On Monday, a day after Pakistan fell to their kryptonite, Osman Samiuddin, the country’s most accomplished cricket writer, made a post on X (formerly Twitter). It said: “It says much about how broken/toxic Pak cricket ecosystem is that a number of PCB mentors (on 50 lakh PKR monthly) are also on air, lucrative media gigs, criticising the team (which they had an informal ok on, for selecting), system (which they work in).”
Osman, who now lives in London, is the author of The Unquiet Ones: A History of Pakistan Cricket. He knows his stuff inside out. As he pointed out, the problems run deep in Pakistan cricket. A meek surrender to India in their Champions Trophy fixture on Sunday was the tip of the iceberg.
After the game, when Abrar Ahmed told reporters in the mixed zone the need to start afresh, it felt like things were broken and rotten from top to bottom. The common cricket fans in Pakistan were the worst sufferers. They were so excited about their country hosting a world event after 29 years. Their tournament was over less than a week after it began.
Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, is not even a full-timer. As the interior minister of a country that flirts with bankruptcy and where ferment is en vogue, he has more serious issues to deal with than cricket. Like a hardcore politician, he did a lot of grandstanding over the PCB not accepting a hybrid model for the Champions Trophy. Boasting over the redevelopment work of the stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, despite missing several deadlines, was a poor carry-over. If only Naqvi had concentrated a little more on cricket, Pakistan probably wouldn’t have stood last in the World Test Championship table for the current cycle. Losing a home Test series to Bangladesh was the nadir.
In the Pakistan cricket team, there are far too many shrinking violets, as was evident yet again in the game against India. But when there is no stability at the top, how will the team get results on the field?
Over the past few years, the PCB had so many chiefs that one might lose count – Ramiz Raja, Najam Sethi, Zaka Ashraf and now Naqvi. All of them reportedly have been political appointments. All of them have had their own set of people. By the way, Imran Khan, the former Pakistan prime minister and their World Cup-winning captain, had launched into a tirade against Naqvi from jail a few months ago, accusing the latter of “annihilating” the team.
Nepotism and patronage are allegedly endemic in Pakistan cricket. “Do you think picking only one specialist spinner for the Champions Trophy is a cricketing decision? You have to be a little too naive to believe that,” Asif Bajwa, Mohammad Amir’s coach, who is closely connected to grassroots cricket in Pakistan, told RevSportz over the phone.
He bemoaned the whole structure. “Look at how poorly grassroots cricket is nurtured here – at U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels, the focus is on playing 45-over-a-side matches,” he said. “Each team plays four games a year. How will you produce quality cricketers from this kind of a set-up? People talk about Pakistan no longer producing world-class batsmen. We aren’t producing top-class bowlers either.”
Is there a dearth of talent in Pakistan cricket? Why did they have to fall back on Imam-ul-Haq as Fakhar Zaman’s replacement? If India need an opening alternative, they would bring in Yashasvi Jaiswal. A player of Rishabh Pant’s talent is not getting games in the 50-over format. Pakistan cricket used to produce winners. As regards the India-Pakistan rivalry, the boot was on the other foot in the 1980s and the early ‘90s. Now, with Pakistan cricket running the risk of slipping into terminal decline, the game’s most popular rivalry might gradually lose its charm.
Before the T20 World Cup last year, the PCB had appointed Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie to take charge of the white-ball and red-ball sides respectively, promising a new era. The fallouts happened fast, and both quit their jobs as their authority over team selections was reportedly diminished. Aaqib Javed is the current head coach, and no disrespect to him. Over several interactions with him in the past, this correspondent can confirm that his reading and analysis of the game are first class. But the grapevine has it that Aaqib too is a political appointment.
World cricket has already lost West Indies. It can ill-afford to lose Pakistan – the second-most popular team on the planet after India. It would be painful if Pakistan cricket goes the hockey way. The country of Hassan Sardar, Kaleemullah, Samiullah and Shahbaz Ahmed can’t even qualify for the Olympics these days. Cricket would be the loser if the country of Imran, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and many other greats becomes inconsequential on the field.